In the September Maryland primary the Diebold E-Poll Book failed miserably throughout the state. It seems that when more than 40 names were entered into the machines they tended to crash and require rebooting. When they did crash some voters who had not voted were listed as having voted. In order to fix this problem it is reported that Diebold wrote two software patches and one of their sub-contractors wrote another. These were all installed on Maryland's equipment and tested. There was also a problem with the touch screen part of the E-Poll Book. Touching the screen caused some machines to crash. Diebold reportedly solved this problem by providing the state with over 5,000 'mouses' to replace the touch screen. These machines are part of an Independent Test Authority (ITA) tested and NASED qualified voting system. Until I talked to Sandy Steinbach yesterday, NASED knew nothing about any changes made by Diebold. But, NASED no longer qualifies new modifications or any voting system submitted for testing after July 10. The EAC now does that work. They too knew nothing about those modifications and, in fact, tried to point to NASED as the authority.
The questions: Who is minding the store? What happens for other states that are required to have federally certified voting systems and are going to use the E-Poll Book? Will Diebold fix every E-Poll Book that will be used in November or will they try to keep this fix a secret because it has never gotten any federal testing and certification?
NAtional: Statewide Databases: Some Missed Milestones, Temporary Fixes
http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1877&Itemid=26
NAtional: Opinion - Crash and re-boot. The wrong kind of voting machine could bring chaos to the mid-term elections
http://www.economist.com/opinion/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=8028608
NAtional: Information Quality Professionals Issue Urgent Alert Regarding United States Elections
http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1876&Itemid=26
NAtional: The Next Katharine Harris? Article 1 Section 4 US Constitution
http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_ezekiel_061013_the_next_katharine_h.htm
NAtional: Rep. Hoyer Asks for Clear Guidelines For Contested Elections
http://www.votetrustusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1881&Itemid=26
AR: White County - Machines tested for general election
http://www.thedailycitizen.com/articles/2006/10/14/news/local_news/news01.txt
MS: New voting machines concern senior citizens. State representatives work to train voters
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/local/15757570.htm
NJ: Monmouth County - Disabled voters can try out new machines
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061014/NEWS01/610140415/1004/NEWS01
PA: Montgomery County - Voting machines will be ready for Election Night
http://www.timesherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17327064&BRD=1672&PAG=461&dept_id=33380&rfi=6
SD: Official: S.D. Has No Voting Problems Electronic Machines Appear To Be Working Well
http://www.yankton.net/stories/101406/news_701101406.shtml
TX: New machines shouldn't scare off voting public
http://www.mywesttexas.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17327778&BRD=2288&PAG=461&dept_id=475590&rfi=6
WV: Northampton County - Voting machines reported ready for duty
http://www.rrdailyherald.com/articles/2006/10/14/news/news3.txt
BRazil: Brazil's electronic voting has safeguards lacking in the U.S.
http://www.redding.com/redd/nw_business/article/0,2232,REDD_17527_5065111,00.html
GUam: Error reduction sought
http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061015/NEWS01/610150302/1002
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